Robert Brackman,
Joven dama de 1933 (1933), óleo sobre tela, 63 x 76 cm. Colección particular
"Young Lady of
1933, pictured above, is the finest example of Brackman’s work, and perhaps his
most metaphysical. Given the title and the exacting attention to fashion, there
may have been a conscious attempt on his part to capture a sense of the era.
The detail given to her hat and dress is such that it is sufficient; he could
have very well taken the detail much further, but wisely kept it quite subtle
in an almost impressionistic way.
The strict
positioning of the subject on the chair, her straightforward gaze toward us,
the positioning of her arm and her hand holding the red scarf, or rather
pulling it through the loop in the collar of her dress, suggest an idealist
motif emanating throughout the work as a whole, as if he were viewing her
through a cinematic lens. The crooked positioning of the chair makes it quite
clear she is sitting upright, her attention focused squarely on us. Her
expression adds to the metaphysical atmosphere, being neither overtly this way
or that. Yet, at the same time, it cannot be considered to be vague, but rather
we feel that she is holding something back. It is one of those expressions that
can only be captured at a perfect moment in time, as if everything has suddenly
come to a standstill and there is only a single, lingering thought
foreshadowing the next moment to come.
The colours are
quiet and fluid, giving a sense of warmth, but not necessarily of comfort. In
his use of pinks, purples, and reds, the artist is setting a tone of subdued
anxiety, further reflected in the hallucinatory gaze of the subject being
directed toward us. The bowl of fruit in the background behind her, a brilliant
and concise juxtaposition of still life against portraiture, a common theme
throughout many of Brackman’s paintings. The inclusion of the ubiquitous bowl
of fruit in portraiture is never by chance, and always a deliberate choice of
symbolism on the part of the artist."
(https://www.lexandermag.org/spotlight-on-the-artist-robert-brackman-1898-1980)
